Written Answers

Thursday 23 November 2000

Scottish Executive

Agriculture

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many farmers there are, what the corresponding figures were for each of the last three years, how much government and European funding has been made available for the industry in each of the last three years and how much it estimates will be made available in each of the next three years.

Ross Finnie: The annual June Agricultural Census collects information on occupiers rather than farmers. The information, including figures for minor holdings, for the years 1997 to 2000 are given in the table below.

  





1997


1998


1999


2000




Full-time occupiers


12,590


12,629


12,472


11,868




Part-time occupiers


15,428


15,972


16,285


16,966




All occupiers


28,018


28,601


28,757


28,834




  The significant components of support for farmers are CAP Market Support, Less Favoured Areas Support, Agri-environment and Farm Woodlands Grants. The aggregate figures for these measures are shown in the table below.

  £ million

  


1997-98


1998-99


1999-2000


2000-01


2001-02


2002-03


2003-04




Actual


Actual


Provisional
Outturn


Estimated
Outturn


Plan


Plan


Plan




393


460


415


462


465


460


457




  Some 70-80% of this total support is in the form of CAP Market Support payments, for which planned provision is classed as Annually Managed Expenditure (AME). The actual level of payments to the industry under CAP Market Support schemes will depend on a range of factors including EU Commission decisions on Euro payment rates, the prevailing Sterling/Euro exchange rate and demand under the schemes.

Air Services

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what input and involvement it has had in the Bermuda II negotiations on international aviation and their effect on the economic prospects of Scottish airports and whether any Scottish Minister has attended any meetings or been consulted by their UK counterpart on this issue.

Sarah Boyack: This is a matter reserved to the UK Parliament. The Scottish Executive has had no input into Bermuda II negotiations nor have the Scottish Ministers attended any meetings nor been consulted on this issue by the UK Government.

Ambulance Service

Mr Michael McMahon (Hamilton North and Bellshill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any additional resources are being made available for the ambulance service in Lanarkshire.

Susan Deacon: The Scottish Ambulance Service is funded to provide services across Scotland. This year’s allocation is £94.3 million – up £4.1 million on last year.

  The allocation includes £500,000 specifically for 20 more frontline staff in Glasgow, and a further £485,000 to train 75 more paramedics across Scotland.

  Areas round Glasgow will benefit from deployment of extra frontline staff in the south and east of the city. And of course the ambulance service regularly reviews performance in all health board areas, including Lanarkshire, to ensure that it is providing the services people need.

Asbestos

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many incidents, broken down by each local authority, of friable asbestos in (a) local authority housing stock, (b) local authority public buildings and (c) in Scotland generally were reported to the Health and Safety Executive in each of the last three years for which figures are available and whether a full investigation was carried out as a result of these incidents.

Angus MacKay: The Scottish Executive has no functions in relation to health, safety and welfare in connection with the control of dangerous substances.

Asbestos

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what was the number of prosecutions, broken down by local authority, carried out for contravention of asbestos regulations in each of the last three years for which figures are available, in how many of these prosecutions fines were imposed and what was the average fine.

Angus MacKay: The Scottish Executive has no functions in relation to health, safety and welfare in connection with the control of dangerous substances.

Asbestos

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail all improvement and prohibition notices issued in respect of friable asbestos in local authority properties.

Angus MacKay: The Scottish Executive has no functions in relation to health, safety and welfare in connection with the control of dangerous substances.

Biodiversity

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there will be a Biodiversity Action Plan corncrake seminar in 2000 and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Mr Sam Galbraith: It is for the Steering Group of the UK Corncrake Biodiversity Action Plan to decide whether a corncrake seminar is required as part of its work programme. I understand that they do not intend to hold a Biodiversity Action Plan seminar in 2000.

Buildings

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce legislation to ensure that owners are required to regularly inspect their buildings to ensure their safety thereof.

Mr Sam Galbraith: There are no plans to introduce such legislation.

Central Heating

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will name all the members and the organisations they represent who have been or will be appointed to the working group on implementation of the central heating programme, how regularly the working group will meet and who will represent the City of Glasgow Council on it.

Jackie Baillie: The members of the working group are drawn from the power companies and Transco, CoSLA, Eaga, Scottish Homes, the SFHA, Age Concern, Help the Aged, Energy Action Scotland, the Energy Saving Trust and the Solid Fuel Association. Local authorities, including the City of Glasgow Council, are represented by CoSLA.

  Individual members may change. The working group first met on 24 October and will meet again on 24 November. No further meetings have yet been set.

Central Heating

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the current consideration of the housing stock transfer issue by seven local authorities will have any bearing on any application which they make for central heating installation funding.

Jackie Baillie: If the tenants vote in favour of stock transfer, the new community landlords will install central heating and insulation and carry out other improvements and repairs, in many cases to a total value considerably greater than the £2,500 per house available under the central heating initiative. If the tenants decide to stay with the local authority, those of them who lack central heating will have it installed under our initiative and the resources will come from the Scottish Executive. No tenant lacking central heating will be disadvantaged by the stock transfer process.

Central Heating

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-10386 by Mr Frank McAveety on 27 October 2000, whether it will include on the implementation group on the central heating installation programme representatives from grassroots fora for pensioners.

Jackie Baillie: Age Concern Scotland and Help the Aged are both represented on the group. We look to them to consult as appropriate and convey the results to other pensioner interests.

Childcare

Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are being introduced to improve the childcare sector.

Nicol Stephen: The Executive is to improve the accessibility, affordability and quality of childcare provision through a range of initiatives. These include: pre-school education with investment of over £130 million a year providing places for all four-year-olds and over two thirds of three-year-olds; New Opportunities Fund   investment of £22.5 million which is expected to provide out of school places for 100,000 children by 2003; improved regulation arrangements underpinning our commitment to good quality childcare provision and to children’s safety, and we are on track to achieve our workforce target to train 5,000 new childcare workers by 2002.

Community Care

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to reconsider its recommendation in Regulating Care and the Social Services Workforce that day care services be included in a national regulation framework and ensure that the provision of such services by day care centres is a statutory requirement on local authorities.

Malcolm Chisholm: It remains our intention to include day care services in the new national regulation framework. We have no plans to make the provision of such services by day care centres a specific statutory duty for local authorities.

Community Care

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many day care centres there are in total and broken down by local authority.

Malcolm Chisholm: The table below details the number of centres and places available in centres for all adult client groups in 1998, the latest year for which figures are available.

  Day Centres for Adults1, 1998

  





Number of Centres2


Number of Places Available




Aberdeen City


24


696




Aberdeenshire


58


1,081




Angus


12


359




Argyll & Bute


11


357




Clackmannanshire


8


284




Dumfries & Galloway


15


767




Dundee City


12


598




East Ayrshire


15


350




East Dunbartonshire


2


139




East Lothian


5


280




East Renfrewshire


4


146




Edinburgh City


35


1,786




Eilean Siar


18


142




Falkirk


14


440




Fife


25


966




Glasgow City


53


2,524




Highland


73


1,167




Inverclyde


11


282




Midlothian


4


126




Moray


17


290




North Ayrshire


11


351




North Lanarkshire


29


1,033




Orkney


4


77




Perth & Kinross


15


520




Renfrewshire


14


809




Scottish Borders


18


670




Shetland


9


174




South Ayrshire


14


645




South Lanarkshire


28


869




Stirling


7


227




West Dunbartonshire


10


403




West Lothian


10


410




Scotland


585


18,968




  Source: SEHD Community Care Statistics, D1-B return.

  Notes:

  1. Includes centres for older people, people with learning disabilities, people with mental health problems, physically disabled people and other adult client groups.

  2. Includes centres with four places or less (most of which are attached to residential homes).

Drug Misuse

Mike Watson (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what support is being given to voluntary groups working with the families of drug users.

Iain Gray: Funding for such groups is a matter for decision locally, primarily by local organisations such as local authorities and health boards. A number of Social Inclusion Partnerships are also providing help and support to families of drug misusers from the £2 million we announced for local drug misuse work in January.

  Within the £100 million drug funding package announced recently, £21 million is for young people and families. Some of this will be used for supporting the families of drug misusers. Details have still to be decided.

Education

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to meet its target of providing every school pupil with internet access and a personal e-mail address.

Mr Jack McConnell: We expect that by 2002 all schools will be connected to the internet and that e-mail will be available to all pupils.

Education

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any concerns about the proportion of candidates sitting Higher exams who sit Higher Mathematics.

Mr Jack McConnell: The proportion of Higher candidates sitting Mathematics has remained consistent at nearly 34% over the past five years.

Education

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans any changes affecting Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Schools.

Mr Jack McConnell: I have reviewed the role and organisation of Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Schools.

  I attach great importance to quality assurance in the education system; and the contribution which the Inspectorate can make to supporting education authorities, schools and teachers in improving the quality of education and raising standards of attainment. I wish to see a strong emphasis on rigorous independent inspection and on the collation and publication of evidence from inspections to inform improvements in educational policy and practice. I wish to ensure that the Inspectorate continues to make this contribution.

  Following a review of the options for discharging these functions, I have decided that the creation of an Executive Agency represents the best way forward. I have rejected other options, including the creation of a Non-Departmental Public Body. Executive Agency status enables operational independence and impartiality in individual inspections to be combined with direct accountability to Ministers for the overall standard of the work done and Ministers’ ability to set a framework for the inspection process which ensures that it supports our strategic objectives for the education system.

  Executive Agencies do not have a separate legal status from the departments out of which they are formed, and Ministers remain fully accountable to the Parliament for the activities of the agency.

  The review also covered the other current functions of the Inspectorate: contributing to policy advice to Ministers, and leading the development and implementation of new policies.

  In addition to the contribution to policy advice which the Executive Agency will continue to make in collating and publishing evidence from inspections, there will also be a role for officials with professional experience as education practitioners to contribute to the internal advice which Ministers receive. They will continue to discharge that role within the core of the Executive. Some staff who are currently part of the Inspectorate will remain within the core to contribute to that function and will not form part of the Executive Agency. This approach will be complemented by the measures which I am taking to ensure that the views of teachers and education authorities are sought regularly as an input to my department’s work.

  I have concluded that the Inspectorate should not discharge the lead role in the development and implementation of new policies, although it will be important for development work to continue to be informed by evidence from inspection. In the context of devolution, I consider that there should be closer ministerial oversight of such activity. The Education Department will ensure that development work is closely managed on behalf of Ministers, drawing on a wide range of professional contributions.

  The review did not cover the role of the Inspectorate in relation to non-compulsory post-school education and training, or inspection of further education colleges or any other task which the Inspectorate undertakes under contract to a body other than the Scottish Executive. Such contracts will be unaffected by the changes flowing from the review.

  I believe that these new arrangements will deliver better results through separation of the present functions of the Inspectorate and more appropriate arrangements for the discharge of those functions. The relevant parts of the Inspectorate will operate on an agency basis from 1 December and my department and the Inspectorate will develop the framework for full agency status to begin on 1 April 2001.

Employment

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to tackle bullying in the workplace.

Angus MacKay: Robust grievance and disciplinary procedures are in place to address the question of bullying in the Scottish Executive.

Employment

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of (a) male and (b) female residents of working age are in employment in each local authority area.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Figures on employment rates for men and women by local authority area are publicly available from the NOMIS database. Staff at the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) are ready to help access this information.

Energy Efficiency

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to encourage more energy efficient use of offices and other buildings.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Executive, through our Scottish Energy Efficiency Office, operates an extensive best practice programme to encourage more efficient use of energy in both industrial processes and building use. The programme provides free advice and consultancy in addition to interest free loans for small businesses. A key feature of the programme is a design advice scheme which aims to embed low energy design into new and refurbished buildings.

Enterprise

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to reverse the decline of 16% in the number of new business start-ups from 1998 to 1999.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Fluctuations in the number of business starts are heavily influenced by conditions in the broader economy. The Scottish Executive has established a Framework for Economic Development that highlights a range of policies to secure economic development. Growth picked up in the second quarter, while independent forecasters expect that growth will be above trend next year.

  In addition, we have a number of measures aimed to help people setting up new businesses: improvements to the Scottish Enterprise Network through the establishment, from July, of a single brand Small Business Gateway offering an extremely important package of core measures that improve on the quality and consistency of public sector support for new and small businesses in the Scottish Enterprise area; work by Scottish Enterprise to review the Business Birth Rate Strategy to further encourage entrepreneurship and start-ups - including from non-traditional sources, like women and youth; and the continuation of local events under the Personal Enterprise Campaign, including shows in deprived areas. In addition, new start-ups with growth potential also have access to support from the £12 million Business Growth Fund and our national mentoring scheme - Business Mentoring Scotland.

Equality Strategy

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the financial structure is in place to implement its Equality Strategy across all departments.

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether each of its departments will have to allocate funding from existing budgets to implement the Equality Strategy.

Jackie Baillie: Implementation of the Equality Strategy will be mainstreamed across the Executive and the funding for equalities will assist this process. As equality is mainstreamed it will be resourced through departmental allocations.

Equality Strategy

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the source is of the additional funding to implement the Equality Strategy announced by the Minister for Social Justice on 8 November 2000.

Jackie Baillie: Additional funding for Equalities was allocated following the spending review earlier this year and published in the Executive’s spending plans Making a Difference .

Exam Results

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many young people have been refused examination performance reports and in which subjects.

Mr Jack McConnell: The provision of performance reports is an operational matter for the Scottish Qualifications Authority. I have asked the Chairman to reply to you and a copy of his reply will be placed in SPICe.

Finance

Ms Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it intends to make to the Chancellor of the Exchequer regarding the use of additional tax revenue being received as a result of high oil prices.

Angus MacKay: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the United Kingdom Government on a wide range of issues, including Budget-related issues. The Budget is, of course, the appropriate time to set spending policy, not on an ad hoc basis in response to short-term fluctuations in the price of a commodity such as oil.

Fisheries

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many jobs are dependent on the fishing industry, in particular on (a) the catching sector, (b) the processing sector, (c) other related sectors; what these figures were for each of the last three years; how much government and European funding has been made available for the industry in each of the last three years, and how much it estimates will be made available for each of the next three years.

Rhona Brankin: The number of fishermen is shown in table 2 of the publication Sea Fisheries Scotland 1999 which is available in SPICe. The number employed in the processing of fish, including farmed fish, was:

  


1997


8,800




1998


8,300




1999


8,600




  Estimates of jobs dependent on fishing are not made routinely.

  The table below shows combined government and European funding under FIFG. Figures for the years 1997-98 to 2000-01 are outturn or estimated outturn expenditure. Figures for 2001-02 onwards reflect expenditure provision for those years.

  

 

£ million




1997-98


3.07




1998-99


4.81




1999-2000


6.52




2000-01


5.37




2001-02


8.3




2002-03


10.2




2003-04


10.7

Fuel Poverty

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many households and how many people will be relieved of fuel poverty as a result of all the initiatives currently in place to address this issue.

Jackie Baillie: At the meeting of the Social Inclusion, Housing and Voluntary Sector Committee on 1 November, I said that the Executive hope to take 250,000 households out of fuel poverty over the lifetime of this administration and the next. We will work towards this target through the Central Heating Initiative, the Warm Deal, New Housing Partnerships and other forms of investment to improve housing in Scotland. Our policies are complemented by the new Minimum Income Guarantee for pensioners and the £200 Winter Fuel Allowance. Progress will be monitored and the results will be published.

Health

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what financial provision will be made to doctors, GP practices and health centres to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998, in particular to cover costs incurred in staff time and administration due to any increase in inquiries as a result of the Act.

Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive has no plans to provide additional funds for this purpose.

Health

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to the Accounts Commission for Scotland publication Supporting Prescribing in General Practice in September 1999, which of the following recommendations has each health board implemented: (a) substitution of branded Ranitidine and Fluoxetine by their generic equivalents and (b) therapeutic substitution of (i) Ranitidine/Famotidine/Nizatidine by Cimitidine, (ii) Indapamide by Bendrofluazide, (iii) Doxazosin/Terazosin by Prazosin, (iv) Isosorbide Mononitrate by Isosorbide Dinitrate, (v) more expensive NSAIDs by Ibuprofen or Naproxen and (vi) Minocycline substituted Oxytetracycline.

Susan Deacon: The information requested is not available centrally and should be sought from individual health boards and Primary Care Trusts. Prescribers and health board and Primary Care Trust prescribing advisers receive for review regular reports from the Information and Statistics Division of the Common Services Agency on the prescribing behaviour of their individual practices.

Her Majesty The Queen’s Golden Jubilee

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans are being made in Scotland to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Her Majesty The Queen’s accession to the throne.

Henry McLeish: The fiftieth anniversary of Her Majesty The Queen’s Accession to the Throne will be celebrated during the summer of 2002. Tuesday 4 June 2002 has been proclaimed as a bank holiday in place of the Spring Bank Holiday, which would otherwise fall on 27 May in 2002, and Monday 3 June has been designated as an additional bank holiday to mark the Golden Jubilee.

  Her Majesty hopes to travel within the United Kingdom as widely as possible during the summer months of May to July, and especially the weeks running up to and following the bank holiday weekend. She will attend the opening of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh on 25 May 2002. A number of other engagements will be undertaken in Scotland at this time, further details of which will be announced in due course.

  The Scottish Executive has been kept fully informed of the events that are being planned at the United Kingdom level. The Prime Minister is today making an announcement to the UK Parliament regarding the wider programme of events to mark the Jubilee.

  The fiftieth anniversary of Her Majesty’s accession to the throne will, I am sure, be a happy occasion for the people of Scotland and it will create numerous opportunities for voluntary and community activity. The Queen has said that she sees her Golden Jubilee as an opportunity to express her thanks for the support and loyalty she has enjoyed during her reign. It will be a time both for celebrating the change and progress that has taken place in Scotland during Her Majesty’s reign, and for looking forward.

Homelessness

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-10384 by Ms Wendy Alexander on 27 October 2000, whether it will make available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre the homelessness applications data referred to.

Jackie Baillie: The information has already been made available to the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, Document Supply Centre in the following Scottish Executive Statistical Bulletin Operation of the Homeless Persons Legislation in Scotland 1988-89 to 1998-99: National and Local Authority Analyses: HSG/2000/5 . This bulletin is also available from the Scottish Executive website: www.scotland.gov.uk. Table 20 of the bulletin details the information to which the answer in question S1W-10384 refers.

Learning Disability Review

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which organisations have been invited to respond to the Learning Disability Review ; what the timescale is for the review’s consultation process; when the review’s recommendations will be implemented, and what are the estimated financial implications of the review.

Malcolm Chisholm: We distributed 9,000 copies of the Learning Disability Review to approximately 800 statutory and non-statutory organisations across health, social work, housing, education, employment, leisure and recreation, and organisations representing people who use services and their carers. The formal consultation on how to implement the review ran from 11 May to end of August.

  The review sets out a programme of change for the next 10 years. It makes clear that agencies locally can make better use of existing resources. In addition, we are making available £36 million over the next three years to support implementation. Meanwhile, we have already invited applications from organisations to set up the Scottish Centre for Learning Disabilities and hope to award the contract in February.

Local Government

Nick Johnston (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to allocate funds for community councils to apply for judicial reviews of local authority decisions and to give community councillors an immunity from liability for expenses.

Peter Peacock: We have no such plans.

Local Government

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether local councils should be elected for a four-year term.

Angus MacKay: We propose to introduce a four-year term for councils. This will help councils to plan ahead and to deliver their policy priorities more effectively. The Executive consulted on this issue in our response to McIntosh and found a strong consensus in favour of extending the term from three to four years. Extending the term of councils will complement other initiatives, such as the new finance settlement, and will assist councils in taking a longer-term strategic view.

  We propose that future local government elections should be held on the same day as Scottish parliamentary elections. In the local government elections in May 1999 there was a turnout of 59% compared with turnout between 41% and 48% from 1976 to 1995. Such high turnout reinforces the democratic mandate of local government. A combined election will also benefit the elector and offers the convenience of a single trip to the polling station.

  This change is part of the process of Renewing Local Democracy and complements other work, such as the power of community initiative and community planning, which should revitalise interest in local issues and local democracy.

  We wish to implement these beneficial changes at the earliest opportunity. We propose to do this by postponing the next local government elections from 2002 to 2003. These proposals will require primary legislation and we will look for an early opportunity to legislate.

Local Government Finance

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the Scottish Block has been allocated to local authorities in each of the last three years and the current year and what the proportion is for each of the next two years.

Angus MacKay: The information is contained in the table. However, percentage shares between years are not directly comparable, due to transfers to and from the local government settlement and changes to other programmes within the Scottish Block.

  


% of Scottish Block/Total Budget 
allocated to local authorities




1997-98


39%




1998-99


38%




1999-2000


36%




2000-01


36%




2001-02


36%




2002-03


36%




  Sources: Scotland’s Budget Document 2000-01, Making a Difference for Scotland.

Local Government Finance

Alex Johnstone (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the population figures used to calculate the spending guidelines and the grant aided expenditure for local authorities are out of date and whether, as a result, it is over-funding local authorities with falling populations at the expense of local authorities with rising populations.

Alex Johnstone (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to base spending guidelines and grant aided expenditure for local authorities on projections of population which are closer to actual figures rather than the two-year-old data currently used.

Angus MacKay: The population Mid-Year Estimates currently used to distribute grant-aided expenditure are based on the most up-to-date data available. I am reviewing the approach to the distribution of grant for the next three years.

NHS Equipment

Shona Robison (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to overcome any current shortage of wheelchairs available from the NHS in Scotland.

Susan Deacon: Funding for wheelchairs is included in the revenue allocation to health boards. The Rehabilitation Technology Information Service (ReTIS) has been established to provide health boards with evidence-based information to assist in taking decisions on the provision of rehabilitation technology, including wheelchairs. This service will collect and analyse benchmarking information and will provide a framework against which best practice delivery of these services can be measured.

Non-Departmental Public Bodies

Mr Keith Harding (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much public money non-departmental public bodies are responsible for in the current financial year and were responsible for in each of the three previous years.

Angus MacKay: Financial information relating to non-departmental public bodies is contained in the annual Cabinet Office publication Public Bodies . Copies are available from the Cabinet Office website at www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/quango/index/pubs.htm. The year 2000 edition of the document will be published in December.

Non-Departmental Public Bodies

Alasdair Morgan (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list, for all non-departmental public bodies ultimately responsible to it, (a) their budget, (b) their staffing level, (c) the number of board members and (d) the emolument of board members.

Angus MacKay: All the information requested for all non-departmental public bodies for which the Executive is responsible is published in the Cabinet Office annual report Public Bodies 1999 . A copy is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre or the Cabinet Office website at the following address:

  www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/quango/index/pubs.htm

  An additional report Appointments to Non-Departmental Public Bodies, published in February 2000, lists appointments made by Scottish Ministers to Executive and Advisory non-departmental public bodies, NHS Bodies, Nationalised Industries and Public Corporations at 1 December 1999. This publication is available from the Scottish Executive website (publications section) at the following address:

  www.scotland.gov.uk

  New editions of these annual publications will be available in due course.

Parliamentary Questions

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will answer parliamentary question S1W-4411 which received a holding reply in February 2000.

Angus MacKay: An answer has been provided today.

Parliamentary Questions

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will provide a substantive answer to question S1W-10209 lodged on 3 October 2000.

Sarah Boyack: I hope to be able to provide a reply shortly.

Parliamentary Questions

Mr Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive why it has not yet provided substantive answers to questions S1W-9757 to S1W-9776 and S1W-9778 on the scallop industry, lodged on 22 September 2000, and when it will provide such answers.

Susan Deacon: The Food Standards Agency has advised me that the situation regarding the scallop industry has been moving rapidly in recent weeks with much activity both domestically and at a European level. However, answers to all the questions concerned have now been answered.

Pig Industry

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many pig producers there are and how many there were in each of the last three years.

Ross Finnie: There are currently 842 pig units in Scotland. The data shown below gives details covering the period 1997-99. The number of units represents those holdings on which pigs are held for breeding and finishing purposes and includes holdings on which other livestock may be kept.

  


Year


Number of Units




1997


982




1998


1,017




1999


940

Pig Industry

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated level of profit of the pig industry is in the current year, what the level of profit was in each of the last three years and what assistance has been made available to the sector to ensure its long-term future.

Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive does not maintain profitability series on the Scottish pig industry. However, I have commissioned a study into the current profitability of this sector, the results of which will be available in late summer 2001. The market price data shown below gives an indication of how profitability is likely to have fluctuated over recent years.

  The EU Pigs Regime does not make provision for direct support to be given to pig producers. However, recognising the particular difficulties which our pig farmers have had to contend with recently, a State Aid application to support this sector is at an advanced stage of processing by the European Commission.

  Average GB Pig Price (pence per kg deadweight)

  


1996


1997


1998


1999


2000
(to end October)




138.43


112.11


85.15


79.77


94.44

Planning

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive in how many planning applications for listed building consent, which have not yet been determined and concluded, has a decision been made by Scottish Ministers to call in the application and to appoint a Reporter where the opposition to the application has been maintained by Historic Scotland, in each of the last 10 years.

Allan Wilson: I have asked Graeme Munro, Director and Chief Executive of Historic Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

  The number of applications for listed building and conservation area consent called in by Scottish Ministers (or previously the Secretary of State) under the appropriate legislation has been as follows:

  


Year


Applications Called 
In




1989


6




1990


9




1991


7




1992


2




1993


4




1994


5




1995


3




1996


8




1997


2




1998


5




1999


8




  With the exception of one application calling in during 1999, all applications called in between 1989 and 1999 have been determined and concluded.

Planning

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many planning applications have been called in by Scottish Ministers and a Reporter appointed and how many were called in where Historic Scotland opposed the proposed development, in each of the last 10 years.

Mr Sam Galbraith: The information required is only available from 1993, and is as follows:

  


Year


Total applications 
called in


Total called in because 
of Historic Scotland objection




1993


24


1




1994


14


0




1995


24


0




1996


28


0




1997


37


1




1998


24


4




1999


45


0




2000 (to date)


30


0




Totals


226


6

Planning

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive who is responsible for the appointment of Reporters in planning inquiries; whether it will detail any plans to review the method of appointment, and whether such appointments should in future be made independent of it.

Mr Sam Galbraith: As with other Scottish Executive civil servants, full-time Reporters are selected on merit through fair and open recruitment competition and appointed by the Scottish Executive Directorate of Personnel and Pay following the successful completion of a probationary period.

  When the workload so demands, the Chief Reporter makes appointments to inquiries from the Part-time Reporters Panel, who are not employees but act in a consultant capacity, on a case-by-case basis.

  There are no plans at present to alter these arrangements.

Planning

Nick Johnston (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will automatically call in all planning applications and/or Notices of Intention to Develop for development of land or property owned by local authorities and/or companies or organisations in which the local authority has a vested interest.

Mr Sam Galbraith: No. The Scottish Executive’s intention, as set out in National Planning Policy Guideline 1 (NPPG 1): The Planning System , is that only applications which raise issues of national significance require to be determined by the Scottish Ministers.

Planning

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to ensure a co-ordinated approach to new house building projects, taking into account play, community, shopping and educational needs.

Mr Sam Galbraith: National planning policy guidelines seek to ensure that, when local authorities assess the requirement for housing land, they will be guided by a number of considerations relevant to the circumstances of their area. These may include: the availability of or need for schools, shops, places of worship and recreational facilities; or whether existing facilities could be sustained through additional housing.

Poverty

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what response it has made to the Scottish Affairs Select Committee report Poverty in Scotland .

Jackie Baillie: I have written to the Secretary of State for Scotland with the Scottish Executive’s views on the relevant parts of the Scottish Affairs Committee report Poverty in Scotland . I have made copies of this letter available in SPICe.

Public Bodies

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the "Quango Watchdog" envisaged by the First Minister, as referred to in his Scotsman article on 15 November 2000, will include cross-party representatives.

Angus MacKay: Our overriding objective is to ensure value for public money for the people of Scotland. That is why our starting point will be to ask the fundamental "why" question of every public body. Each body will need to demonstrate that it should continue to exist and that it carries out its functions effectively and efficiently. The details of how we intend to take this forward, and what mechanisms will be put in place, will be announced before Christmas.

Public Sector

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made since July with regard to the dispersal of civil service jobs to Tayside.

Angus MacKay: I will be making an announcement about the preliminary examinations of organisations referred to in Mr Jack McConnell’s parliamentary answer S1W-8578 of 6 July once this work has been completed.

Public Transport

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what additional finance it intends to make available in 2000-01 and 2001-02 to local authorities to subsidise local bus services.

Sarah Boyack: Grant-aided expenditure (GAE) for bus support is £21.349 million in 2000-01. However, GAE allowances are not spending limits or targets. Grant allocations for each local authority for the next three years will be announced next month. Ultimately it is for each council to determine its expenditure on subsidising bus services from within its total resources.

Rail Network

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what it is doing to improve the quality of passenger rail services in terms of overcrowding and how overcrowding on trains is defined.

Sarah Boyack: The day to day management of overcrowding is principally a contractual matter for SSRA. The Scottish Executive will highlight the need to reduce overcrowding on key routes in its "Strategic Priorities for Scottish Passenger Railways" to be issued shortly.

Residential Care

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people, who have been assessed as needing residential care, have died in the (a) Scottish Borders Council and (b) East Lothian Council areas whilst waiting to be placed in residential or nursing care in each year from 1997 to 2000 to date.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally.

Roads

Nick Johnston (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much grant funding has been paid to local authorities, broken down by authority, in each of the last three years to implement one-way traffic systems and bus lanes in town centres and how many of the schemes to which such grant funding has been provided have since been altered or withdrawn.

Sarah Boyack: No specific grant is paid to local authorities to implement one-way traffic systems and bus lanes in town centres.

Roads

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the Ministerial Statement on the Strategic Roads Review on 4 November 1999, what progress has been made on the development of plans for the Fochabers bypass route and when work on the bypass will commence.

Sarah Boyack: Substantial progress has been made on developing detail plans for the Fochabers and Mosstodloch Bypass. I expect my consultants’ work on these plans to be finalised early in the New Year and thereafter draft orders will be published to seek public opinion of the emerging proposals.

  If the public view is favourable, construction could start in 2003. This is the same construction timetable as I announced following the Strategic Roads Review.

Scottish Environment Protection Agency

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, for each year since 1996, how many prosecutions were carried out by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, how many prosecutions were successful, what the total cost was of carrying out prosecutions and what the level of fines was from successful prosecutions.

Mr Sam Galbraith: The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) does not carry out prosecutions. Cases of contravention of environment protection legislation, which are considered by SEPA to warrant legal action, are referred to the Procurators Fiscal service for prosecution. Decisions on whether or not to proceed with prosecution in particular cases are entirely a matter for the appropriate Procurator Fiscal. The costs of carrying out prosecutions are borne by the Procurators Fiscal service and not by SEPA. The following table sets out information on cases referred by SEPA to the Procurators Fiscal since April 1996:

  

 

1/4/96 to
31/3/97


1/4/97 to
31/3/98


1/4/98 to
31/3/99


1/4/99 to
31/3/2000


1/4/2000 to
10/11/2000




Cases referred to Procurators Fiscal


37


70


73


84


39




Successful prosecutions


24


43


37


42


8




Number of cases where fines imposed


18


37


28


30


8




Total fines imposed


£48,026.37


£72,158.85


£86,075


£58,200


£35,950




  Note: Figures may differ from those published in SEPA’s annual reports depending on when legal proceedings were resolved.

Scottish Transport Group Pension Scheme

Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in releasing the surplus in the Scottish Transport Group pension schemes to the pensioners concerned.

Sarah Boyack: In my reply to your end of business debate motion of 25 October I said that details of the settlement for STG pensions schemes members were the subject of ongoing discussion with HM Treasury. Ministers hope that it will be possible to conclude these negotiations soon.

Student Finance

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the timetable is for the implementation of a student bursary scheme and whether this is dependent upon the progress of the Education (Graduate Endowment and Student Support) (Scotland) Bill.

Nicol Stephen: From the start of the academic year 2001-02, we intend to introduce a wide-ranging package of measures to assist students and their families, including bursaries for mature students and for young students entering higher education from low income backgrounds for the first time. The Education (Graduate Endowment and Student Support) (Scotland) Bill will enable us to proceed with this package, as the income from the graduate endowment will be applied exclusively to fund bursary and other student support.

Student Finance

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the proposed timetable is for the Education (Graduate Endowment and Student Support) (Scotland) Bill.

Nicol Stephen: The detailed timetable for the Bill is a matter for the Parliament. The Scottish Executive expects the Education (Graduate Endowment and Student Support) (Scotland) Bill, and the regulations to be made under it, to be in force for the start of the academic year 2001-02.

Telecommunications

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in consulting environmental and community groups on plans to bring telecommunications masts under full planning control.

Mr Sam Galbraith: Environmental and community groups were invited to participate in the Planning and Telecommunications summit in September. They will also be included in the forthcoming public consultation exercise.

Water Supply

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will appoint and fund a water safety officer in parallel with a similar appointment in England.

Mr Sam Galbraith: Scottish Ministers regulate drinking water quality under provisions in the Water (Scotland) Act 1980. The consultation paper  Managing Change in the Water Industry invited views on whether additional powers in this area are needed, given the prospect of increased competition in the Scottish water and sewerage sector.

  The Executive is considering responses to the consultation paper at present. Any new provisions for regulating drinking water quality will be included in the Water Services Bill planned for the current parliamentary session and will be the subject of full consultation before the Bill’s introduction.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Scottish Parliament Information

Fiona McLeod (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body plans to provide parliamentary information via teletext services.

Sir David Steel: At present the SPCB has no plans to establish its own teletext Parliamentary Information Service. Comprehensive parliamentary information is publicly available on the Parliament website, which also contains all press releases. The information on the website is used extensively by media and broadcast companies and is often reproduced in teletext services such as BBC Scotland’s Ceefax Politics pages.